The Birthday
'''The Birthday is the first episode of the third season of and the forty-fifth episode of the series overall. Summary A NOT SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY — On the morning of Elena's 18th birthday, Caroline is busy planning a party, but Elena is focused on searching for any clues that might help her discover where Stefan is. Damon is also searching for Stefan, while trying to protect Elena and keep her from doing anything that would draw Klaus' attention. Meanwhile, Stefan and Klaus are busy trailing a werewolf named Ray Sutton. Now working at the Mystic Grill along with Matt, Jeremy is struggling to understand why he keeps seeing the ghosts of Vicki and Anna since he was brought back to life by Bonnie's magic. Meanwhile, Alaric does his best to watch over Elena and Jeremy while dealing with his grief over Jenna's death. Finally, Caroline and Tyler face a new and unexpected challenge. Plot Cast Main Cast * Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert * Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore * Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore * Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert * Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett * Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan * Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes * Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood * Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman * Joseph Morgan as Klaus Mikaelson Guest Cast * Dawn Olivieri as Andie Star * Malese Jow as Anna (ghost) * David Gallagher as Ray Sutton * Cherilyn Wilson as Samara * Kayla Ewell as Vicki Donovan (ghost) Co-Starring * Susan Walters as Carol Lockwood * Sarah Cooper as Keisha * Lilly Roberson as Sofie * Diany Rodriguez as Claudine Uncredited *Te'Era Southerland as Compelled Girl Trivia * Antagonists: Klaus Mikaelson and Stefan Salvatore. **This is the first episode since Miss Mystic Falls to feature Stefan as an antagonist. * This is the first episode of the first chapter of Season Three, The Ghosts Chapter. * There is a time jump from As I Lay Dying to this episode, with two months having passed, as confirmed by Damon in the episode. * Jeremy has started working at the Mystic Grill over the summer. * Stefan hasn't been seen by any of the Mystic Falls residents since As I Lay Dying. * A photograph of Jenna and Alaric can be seen in the Gilbert House. * Andie dies in this episode due to Stefan's compulsion, which causes her to purposely jump off of a scaffolding at the news station as a message to Damon to stop following him. * This episode has many similarities with the episode,'' Pilot: ** Stefan stalks Andie before killing her, as Damon did with Elena in the pilot (although he didn't kill her). ** After Matt wishes Elena a happy birthday and ignores Caroline. She says ''"He hates me," which is the same thing Elena said to Bonnie in the pilot about Matt. She also said that their breakup led him to using drugs, which is slightly similar to why Jeremy started doing drugs, as a way to deal with Vicki's death. ** After finally seeing Stefan after two months, he greets Damon with "Hello, brother." Damon said this to Stefan in the pilot episode. * Caroline and Tyler make love for the first time in this episode. * At the end of the episode, Carol Lockwood coats Caroline's bag with vervain as a test to see if she's a vampire. When it burns Caroline's hands when she picks it up, Carol shoots her with vervain darts to incapacitate her. ** It is revealed in the following two episodes that Carol called Caroline's father and Founder's Council member Bill Forbes to help her handle her "vampire problem." * This episode marks Klaus' first attempt to create a hybrid. However, this attempt is unsuccessful, although the reason as to why is not confirmed until The End of the Affair -- he needs to feed the reawakened hybrids the blood of the human Petrova doppelgänger to complete their transition. * This is the second episode to celebrate a birthday, the first being 162 Candles (Stefan's birthday.) ** There are also three more episodes celebrating birthdays following this one: the third is Our Town (Caroline's birthday), the fourth is Season Six's Prayer For the Dying (Luke and Liv's birthday) and the fifth is Season Six's The Day I Tried To Live (Bonnie's birthday.) * This is the first episode that Elena's birthday is celebrated. * Since this is Elena's 18th birthday, she is now the sole, legal owner of the Gilbert Building until Jeremy turns 18. * This is the first season premiere to feature Klaus. *This episode wasn't on Elena's actual birthday, June 22. * It's revealed in Yellow Ledbetter, the second episode of Season Six that it was at this party that Elena finally knew she was in love with Damon; specifically, when he returned the necklace Stefan gave to her as a birthday gift, which showed her that he had the capacity to be selfless. Locations *Mystic Falls, Virginia **Gilbert House **Town Square **Salvatore Boarding House **WKPW9 studio **Lockwood Mansion *Tennessee **House **Southern Comfort Body Count * Samara - Drained of blood; killed by Stefan * Keisha - Drained of blood; killed by Stefan * Andie Star - killed by Stefan (through compulsion) Production Notes * From this episode onwards Sara Canning is no longer a main cast member. She was credited in every episode even when absent except Friday Night Bites. * This is the first season premiere to not feature Jenna. * This is the first season premiere to feature Alaric, Anna, and Klaus. It is the only season premiere thus far that both Alaric and Anna were in. * In Behind the Scenes photos for this episode, Stefan's appearance in clothing is similar to that of Damon in the start of Season One as that he is wearing all black clothing. * There have been talks that the episode would be named "Bloody," but Zap2It revealed on August 11, 2011 that the episode would be called The Birthday. * Jeremy hasn't told anyone about seeing Anna and Vicki yet, except for Matt, but Matt didn't take him seriously, saying that he often thinks he sees Vicki (his sister), too. * From this episode until Graduation, Joseph Morgan (Klaus) is a series regular. * This is also the first appearance of Klaus as a series regular (not counting his first three appearances were he was portrayed by Matthew Davis). * This is the second season premiere to feature Carol. The first was Season Two's The Return. * This is the second season premiere to feature Vicki. The first was the series premiere episode. * This is the last episode of the series to be written by Kevin Williamson until the final season. Continuity * Jenna is seen through a photograph with Alaric. It was first seen in As I Lay Dying. She was last seen in The Sun Also Rises when Klaus staked her. * Andie Star was last seen in Klaus. * Klaus, Carol, Vicki and Anna were all last seen in As I Lay Dying. * This is the second season premiere in a row to feature Caroline in a cliffhanger. The first was The Return when Katherine smothers her with a pillow before becoming a vampire. Behind the Scenes * This episode was watched by 3.10 million viewers in the USA. Quotes :Alaric: Hey Elena... Happy Birthday. ---- :Damon: Morning. '' :'Elena:'' Hey, I was gonna— (She looks up and sees Damon wet from a bath and wearing nothing but a towel as she turns around) ''OH! :Damon: Hey, you should learn to knock, what if I was... indecent? ---- :Caroline: (about Matt) ''He thinks we're dating. '' :Tyler:' ''So does my mother. ---- :Damon: Stefan, for sure. :Alaric: How do you know? '' :'Damon:' ''It's his signature. It's the reason they call him "the Ripper." Feeds so hard he blacks out and rips them apart. But then, when he's done, he feels remorse. That's the damn thing... he put the bodies back together. :Alaric: (horrified) Back together? :Damon:'' Definitely Stefan.'' ---- :Caroline: (to Tyler, when Elena's out of sight) Just because I tell you things doesn't mean you're allowed to know them! ---- :Stefan:'' My brother still on our trail?'' :Klaus: He's getting closer, I'm gonna have to deal with that. :Stefan: No, no no. Let me handle that. :Klaus:'' Why should I let you leave?'' :Stefan: Cause you know I'll come back. :Klaus: Do I? :Stefan: You saved my brother's life, I'm at you're service. :Klaus: Aah, you make it all sound so tedious. Aren't you even having the least bit of fun? :Stefan: I'll make sure that my brother doesn't bother us any more. ---- :Caroline: (about Matt)'' He hates me. His hatred of me has driven him to drugs!'' :Elena: He doesn't hate you, he hates that he's not with you. ---- :Damon: Well, hold the fort down, will ya? :Alaric: You mean the fort full of my drunken history students? :Damon: Drink more, you'll feel less weird. '' ---- :'Elena:' ''I think I'm gonna pass on the whole cake-thing. :Caroline: What? No, no way, no! It's your birthday! You know it's the dawn of a new day, and you can't get on with your life until you have made a wish and blown out the candles. :Elena:'' Is that what you all want me to do? Just get on with my life?'' ---- :Elena: (to Caroline) I'm not going to give up on finding Stefan. ---- :Elena: (to Caroline about Stefan) You want me to make a wish? I just wanna know that he's alive. That's it! That's my wish. ---- :Damon: Stefan. :Stefan: Hello, Brother. :Damon: ''You don't write, you don't call.'' :Stefan: ''I need you to stop following me. It's causing some... problems.'' :Damon:'' 'With who? Klaus? I'm supposed to care what he thinks?'' :Stefan: What you're supposed to do is let me go.'' :'''Damon: I saw your latest artwork in Tennessee. You're walking a fine line there, my friend. Keep that up and there will be no saving you.'' :Stefan: ''See, the thing is, I don't need any saving. I just want you to let me go.'' ---- :Stefan: (to Damon) Let. Me. Go. ---- :Elena: We're supposed to be in this together. Why didn't you tell me that you've been tracking Klaus' victims? :Damon: Because they're not Klaus' victims, Elena, they're Stefan's. :Elena: ''What?'' :Damon: ''He's left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard.'' ---- :Klaus: (to Stefan) You never stop caring about family, do you? But every time you feed, the blood makes it easier to let go. Multimedia Soundtrack Pictures |-|Promotional= Thebirthday.jpg|Alaric, Elena and Damon at Elena's party at the Salvatore Mansion the_birthday_1.jpg the_birthday_3.jpg the_birthday_4.jpg the_birthday_5.jpg the_birthday_6.jpg the_birthday_7.jpg the_birthday_8.jpg The birthday 8.jpg The birthday 7.jpg The birthday 6.jpg The birthday 5.jpg The birthday 4.jpg The birthday 3.jpg The birthday 2.jpg The birthday 1.jpg |-|Screencaps= 301VampireDiaries0002.jpg 301VampireDiaries0012.jpg 301VampireDiaries0044.jpg 301VampireDiaries0058.jpg 301VampireDiaries0104.jpg 301VampireDiaries0120.jpg 301VampireDiaries0128.jpg 301VampireDiaries0141.jpg 301VampireDiaries0162.jpg|ej 301VampireDiaries0180.jpg|ae Screenshot_1804.jpg Screenshot_1805.jpg Screenshot_1808.jpg 301VampireDiaries0288.jpg 301VampireDiaries0289.jpg 301VampireDiaries0292.jpg 301VampireDiaries0299.jpg 301VampireDiaries0327.jpg 301VampireDiaries0345.jpg 301VampireDiaries0350.jpg 301VampireDiaries0363.jpg 301VampireDiaries0362.jpg 301VampireDiaries0364.jpg 301VampireDiaries0374.jpg 301VampireDiaries0380.jpg 301VampireDiaries0382.jpg 301VampireDiaries0401.jpg 301VampireDiaries0402.jpg 301VampireDiaries0407.jpg 301VampireDiaries0410.jpg 301VampireDiaries0417.jpg 301VampireDiaries0422.jpg 301VampireDiaries0502.jpg 301VampireDiaries0507.jpg 301VampireDiaries0508.jpg 301VampireDiaries0517.jpg 301VampireDiaries0528.jpg 301VampireDiaries0538.jpg 301VampireDiaries0543.jpg 301VampireDiaries0556.jpg 301VampireDiaries0561.jpg 301VampireDiaries0570.jpg 301VampireDiaries0593.jpg 301VampireDiaries0597.jpg 301VampireDiaries0599.jpg 301VampireDiaries0603.jpg 301VampireDiaries0615.jpg 301VampireDiaries0622.jpg 301VampireDiaries0627.jpg 301VampireDiaries0641.jpg 301VampireDiaries0642.jpg 301VampireDiaries0644.jpg 301VampireDiaries0651.jpg 301VampireDiaries0697.jpg 301VampireDiaries0698.jpg 301VampireDiaries0718.jpg 301VampireDiaries0728.jpg 301VampireDiaries0729.jpg 301VampireDiaries0739.jpg 301VampireDiaries0748.jpg 301VampireDiaries0773.jpg 301VampireDiaries0779.jpg 301VampireDiaries0801.jpg 301VampireDiaries0803.jpg 301VampireDiaries0823.jpg 301VampireDiaries0843.jpg 301VampireDiaries0844.jpg 301VampireDiaries0863.jpg 301VampireDiaries0887.jpg 301VampireDiaries0904.jpg 301VampireDiaries0925.jpg 301VampireDiaries0926.jpg 301VampireDiaries0954.jpg 301VampireDiaries0970.jpg 301VampireDiaries0980.jpg 301VampireDiaries0998.jpg 301VampireDiaries1008.jpg 301VampireDiaries1012.jpg 301VampireDiaries1016.jpg 301VampireDiaries1073.jpg 301VampireDiaries1084.jpg 301VampireDiaries1099.jpg 301VampireDiaries1131.jpg 301VampireDiaries1136.jpg 301VampireDiaries1159.jpg 301VampireDiaries1177.jpg 301VampireDiaries1201.jpg 301VampireDiaries1205.jpg 301VampireDiaries1207.jpg 301VampireDiaries1215.jpg 301VampireDiaries1226.jpg 301VampireDiaries1247.jpg 301VampireDiaries1264.jpg 301VampireDiaries1281.jpg 301VampireDiaries1300.jpg 301VampireDiaries1302.jpg 301VampireDiaries1304.jpg 301VampireDiaries1327.jpg 301VampireDiaries1357.jpg 301VampireDiaries1361.jpg 301VampireDiaries1377.jpg 301VampireDiaries1384.jpg The birthday 8.jpg 301VampireDiaries1463.jpg 301VampireDiaries1468.jpg 301VampireDiaries1482.jpg 301VampireDiaries1490.jpg 301VampireDiaries1492.jpg 301VampireDiaries1497.jpg 301VampireDiaries1525.jpg 301VampireDiaries1547.jpg 301VampireDiaries1559.jpg 301VampireDiaries1564.jpg 301VampireDiaries1580.jpg 301VampireDiaries1618.jpg 301VampireDiaries1679.jpg 301VampireDiaries1683.jpg 301VampireDiaries1713.jpg 301VampireDiaries1717.jpg 301VampireDiaries1724.jpg 301VampireDiaries1729.jpg 301VampireDiaries1732.jpg 301VampireDiaries1778.jpg 301VampireDiaries1783.jpg 301VampireDiaries1844.jpg 301VampireDiaries1846.jpg 301VampireDiaries1874.jpg 301VampireDiaries1875.jpg 301VampireDiaries1881.jpg 301VampireDiaries1887.jpg |-|Behind the Scenes= tvguidefilming.jpg|TV Guide behind the scenes of TVD 2016-10-06_Andi_Behring_Instagram.jpg|©Andi Behring tumblr_lpsvl3fyYT1r0bwa6o6_500.jpg|Behind the scene as they shoot Nina Dobrev tumblr_lpsvl3fyYT1r0bwa6o1_500.png|Damon sitting and Elena in front of the mirror tumblr_lpt4bz4NvZ1qgiopro1_500.jpg|Candice and Michael on set BTS-S3-Ian.jpeg BTS-S2-Ian2.jpeg BTS-Ep1-S3.jpg Tvds3-01bts.jpg Tvds3-02bts.jpg Tvds3-03bts.jpg Tvds3-04bts.jpg Tvds3-05bts.jpg Tvds3-06bts.jpg Tvds3-07bts.jpg See also Category:Vampire Diaries Episode Guide Category:Season Premieres Category:Birthday episodes Category:Episodes featuring all main characters Category:The Vampire Diaries Season Three